Chalet Tropical Village Information

Chalet Tropical Village is a small complex of holiday rent houses located in Las Galeras, a small fishing village on the peninsula of Samana, in the Dominican Republic.
Comfortable wooden houses to rent for your vacation in the Caribbean, fully equipped and close to the most beautiful beach in the Dominican Republic.

Let me start by saying that these cottages are also listed with FlipKey as vacation rentals and as such can only be reviewed when invited by the owners. In my opinion, this does not lead to accurate reviews as vacationers who had a less than stellar experience are not invited to submit a review.
We originally booked a cottage as a last minute 10 night stay...we were already in the Dominican Republic and decided to go to Las Galeras and saw the cottages online and read the information as well as visiting the website.

Your Arrival:
**The website claimed 5 minute walk to beach when in reality it was a 20 minute walk...you couldn't walk any quicker because you had to watch out for the ruts and holes...not to mention the tarantulas and poisonous centipides. A gate had to be unlocked and then locked again. Not my idea of a short stroll to the beach!

**The website claimed wifi internet access when in reality the host has an internet business claiming most of the bandwith and access. We were literally told we could not download ANYTHING and could use our laptop for email only.

Rooms:
**The cottages themselves are charming although comfort has been lost by the creators wishes to provide a "unique" experience. Safety has been compromised in order to have a "showcase". Case in point...the stairway is made of steps set into a tree trunk with the tree trunk sticking out of the top by 6 inches...any inattention would lead to a nasty spill. Kitchen counter held up by a forked tree branch...still have the bruises from that! Cold water ONLY spills from a shell in the bathroom sink....got it...your cottages are cute...now can I have the TV within viewing distance of the couch....NO! TV about 25 feet from the TV suspended from the ceiling.
**Chairs and furniture since made of local wood are very uncomfortable.

Beds were quite comfortable and well set up, however the hosts let out there 2 Great Danes at night and between them communicating with the local dogs and the merengue music...good luck sleeping. The local dogs and music...start about 8 p.m. and then the Great Danes add to the cacophony a while later.

Speaking of pets, one of the great attractions is Kong the masturbating squirrel monkey. He''s not gay tho' so he only likes women....really likes women! In fact, once he found out you were around he would visit...alot! If you tried to get rid of him he bit...alot. But he's vaccinated so no problem according to our hosts! He drew blood with a nice set of teeth marks in 2 places on my hand.

**I realize not much can follow Kong but the secure safe's offered on the website? Owner couldn't figure out how to work them so the code is the same and can't be changed on all of them...1,2,3,4,5,* Really secure!!!

The hostess Sarah tries her best and really knows the area but is definitely not an experienced hotelier. Her husband Danilo, is a different sort of case....the inhospitable innkeeper! Their house is on site, however it is OFF LIMITS to guests...even in they try to approach to ask a question. On our third afternoon my husband approached the house to ask a question...after 4 p.m....so siesta was not an issue. He opened the gate, played with the Great Danes a bit and knocked on the door. Our "host" did not like this and took exception to my husband's presence on his property and let him know in no uncertain terms and several times that "This is MY house...you do not come to MY house...while escorting him off HIS property."

My husband, who does not have an enemy in the world but is a loudmouth schnook to quote Foghorn Leghorn, finally got irritated at the repetitiveness of our host's tirade and told him he understood, to[--] off and turned to leave...this led to alot of swearing from our host, the appearance of the host's loco father, more swearing, loco father swearing, shaking his fist and approaching my husband to initiate physical contact. Our host told us he didn't need our money and to get the [--]off his property.

Other Comments:
I don't know, but it seems to me that if you're operating a tourist business and renting cabins for 100 euros or so a night that you might want to have a welcoming environment or at least warn your guests not to approach your house to ask a question.

We packed up and left because we were asked to, but did not receive a full refund which I am working on with my credit card company. We continued to Las Terrenas and found an aparthotel which was fabulous and welcoming with no issues whatsoever.

In short, this experience was very interesting and after having traveled extensively was "unique". The owners obviously love the area and have gone to great pains to create a life there....too bad all the positive vibes are erased by an arrogant and inhospitable host.

Everything was great here, it’s perfect for anybody and I had a wonderful time here. On arrival, reception was very warm, I was greeted by the manager and after check in, I was led to my room. The only problem or complain I have to give about this place is that they should do something about the cockroach infestation in the rooms, I saw cockroaches once or twice but it didn’t really bother me as I was out of my room most of the time. Asides from the cockroaches, every other thing was pretty solid and I loved the beach. There are plenty excursions to join in and I made sure I was part of some, I came to DR to have fun because I was on vacation. Some of the activities they had planned out for the guests include snorkeling, hiking, riding on the back of trucks and many more. I had the opportunity of meeting some locals that weren’t guests at the hotel and they were really nice while we had nice meal together. This is a wonderful island for those looking to unwind in a peaceful environment as Las Galeras is a nice and peaceful island. The rooms were clean but it didn’t stop the cockroaches from crawling into my room but every other thing worked fine, the air condition was working and the bathroom was functional. The staff was very polite and interactive, trying to help you understand and very patient. They will discuss the excursions available and what you have in mind so they can put it together for you. All in all, I had a wonderful stay and will come back once I’m sure there are no cockroaches in the rooms.